My Protector
by Lady Di Lee
Summary: Kagome is hurt and Inu Yasha takes her to someone he knew 50 years ago. In the process, we learn more about his past and what it was like growing up neither human nor youkai 3 of 8 chapters
1. Hopelessness

AN: This is my first fic, so I would really apreciate any advice you have. Please tell me what I did right or wrong by reviewing.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha or his friends.  
  
Please enjoy  
  
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My Protector  
  
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Chapter 1: Helplessness  
  
Sesshoumaru slammed Inu Yasha into the ground. "Even with Tetsusaiga, you are no match for me--" His insult was cut off as he narrowly dodged an arrow that went past his head. It was that human bitch Inu Yasha went around with--How dare she attack him with that stupid arrow?! He flung Inu Yasha several yards away, where he lay stunned. Sesshoumaru then strode over to the girl who was hastily trying to ready another arrow. He grabbed her bow, and snapped it in half as if it were a twig, then grabbed her by the front of her blouse.  
  
"Inu Yasha!" The cry escaped her lips, and he shook her.  
  
"This is the last time you interfere with one of our fights!" As he said this, he extended his claws through her blouse, and into the skin of her chest. He watched coldly as she gasped, first as his claws broke her skin, and then when she felt the poison burn through her body. The look of horror on her face was satisfying. She knew she would be dead soon.  
  
"Inu-Inu Yasha..." She said his name one last time as she lost consciousness. The stupid girl. Inu Yasha couldn't help her now.  
  
He heard a strangled squeal behind him, and turned to see Rin in Inu Yasha's hands, his claws at her throat.  
  
"Hand over Kagome, or I swear, I will tear her throat out!"  
  
Sesshoumaru looked down at the now limp girl he held in his hands, and threw her to the monk who was just recovering from being knocked out earlier in the fight. He reacted quickly, and managed to catch her, though he fell down again from the impact. The demon exterminator ran towards the monk, to assist him. These stupid humans. They should know better than to turn their back in a fight. As he prepared to attack the group of three on the ground, Inu Yasha yelled, "Don't even think about it, Sesshoumaru! Don't think I won't kill this girl if you so much as bat an eye in their direction!"  
  
"It doesn't really matter either way. I have already killed the girl while you were off in your own little world. If you think your threats in any way affect me, you are sadly mistaken." He turned to walk away. Inu Yasha dropped Rin, who quickly ran to him, fighting her tears of fear. This was no place for a young girl to be. He needed to find a safe place for her to stay before he continued this fight against Inu Yasha. He would leave for now, and let his brother suffer for his dead woman.  
  
He disappeared with Rin scampering after him, as Inu Yasha ran over to Kagome, fearing the worst.  
  
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As Inu Yasha approached Miroku, he noticed the scent of Kagome's blood. But looking at the amount, it couldn't be a killing wound; she had lived through worse before. When he saw her take a breath, he breathed a sigh of relief. Sesshoumaru had been bluffing, to get an opening to retreat, the coward. "Well, that went well! I'm hungry, let's eat!" His smile faltered as Sango directed an angry glare towards him. "What? Is there something wrong with being hungry after a big fight? Get Kagome up and let's go."  
  
Sango's answer chilled his bones, "If you haven't noticed, Inu Yasha, Kagome isn't getting up. Sesshoumaru did something to her before he threw her away, and she isn't reacting to anything we do."  
  
At this moment, Shippou came pelting towards Kagome, throwing himself on her. "Kagome! No! Get up Kagome!" As the Kitsune dissolved into tears, Inu Yasha took a closer look at Kagome. She was breathing, yes, but it was shallow, and her face was very pale. He felt her pulse, and it was very faint. Inspecting her wound, he saw the claw marks that his brother must have left, and knew at once that his brother's poison must be racing through her body.  
  
He stood up abruptly, picking her up in his arms, and started walking away. "Let's go. We have to set up camp before nightfall, and keep her warm." As the others hurried to follow him, they wondered what it was he had seen, and why he had such a grim look on his face.  
  
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As they reached the clearing where they had made camp the night before, Sango went up to Inu Yasha. "We have to dress her wounds."  
  
He replied angrily, "It won't help any. He has injected his poison into her." His response was not at all what Sango had expected. Then he continued in a softer voice, "There is nothing we can do, but make her comfortable for her final night."  
  
She was outraged at his words. How could he say there was no way to save her? "We have to try! Maybe you are ready to give up on her, but I'm not. If you want to just leave her to die, then hand her over, and we will fight to save her life." The look he gave her made her feel like a child talking about things that were beyond her comprehension, but she couldn't just give up.  
  
"Fine. Here." He handed Kagome to Miroku. "But don't get your hopes up too high. No human can survive Sesshoumaru's poison." After saying this, he stalked off into the forest, probably to brood in some tree. Sango didn't let her thoughts linger on him too long. She had more important things to occupy her mind.  
  
"Miroku, go and gather some firewood with Shippou while I bandage her wounds."  
  
"Why can't I help bandage her wounds? I am very good with medicine..." His voice trailed off at the look Sango was giving him. She answered, in a too calm voice, "Go gather firewood. You will be more useful doing that then bandaging a wound in an area you usually ogle."  
  
"Oh. Right. Well, let's go Shippou."  
  
After they had left, Sango went to Kagome's bag, dug the first aid kit out of it, and then retrieved an herb from her own pack. She removed Kagome's blouse to inspect at the wounds. There were just a few small scratches, but the skin around them was very inflamed, and hot to the touch. It was definitely a poison. She applied the herb that her father had taught her was good for slowing poisons, even those from youkai, and finished applying the bandages with shaking hands.  
  
She was desperate for the herb to work. She had already lost her family. She couldn't lose these friends as well. She closed her eyes tightly against the pain, her hands clenching the cloth of Kagome's tattered blouse. Death comes to us all, however unreasonable that death may be. A few tears escaped, rolling quietly down her cheeks. She stood up, and worked on building a fire with the wood available. By the time Miroku returned, she had herself under control, and was starting dinner.  
  
Coming over next to her, the monk asked in a quiet voice, "How are her wounds?"  
  
She answered in an equally quiet voice, not wanting to scare Shippou who was busy stacking the wood they had collected. "Not good. I think Inu Yasha might be right...but I don't want to think about it." They continued their normal chores around the camp without another word.  
  
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Inu Yasha sat in a tree with a scowl on his face, watching the others go around the camp. Sango wasn't wearing her armor anymore, and had her hair loosely pulled back as she tended the soup over the campfire. Kagome was in her sleeping bag, with every spare bit of clothing and blankets wrapped around her. Even though the sun hadn't set yet, her body temperature had dropped steadily after the poisoning. Shippou and Kirara were curled up on top of her, lending their body heat to the effort of keeping her warm. It was a mark of how concerned he was for her welfare that Miroku had not offered to do this himself. Instead, he was wiping Kagome's forehead gently with a damp cloth.  
  
Why did this have to happen? He was supposed to protect Kagome, not let her fall into Sesshoumaru's clawed hands. How could this be happening again?  
  
Miroku's voice broke through his thoughts. "Inu Yasha, we need more firewood. Make yourself useful and go collect some."  
  
Inu Yasha glared at the monk for interrupting him, but he jumped down and went into the woods, as Miroku called after him, "Hurry up, I think she may be getting better!"  
  
Inu Yasha made a derisive snort at that. She wasn't getting better. No human could survive Sesshoumaru's poison on their own. Only one had ever managed to live after that...  
  
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"Pick the prettiest ones, Inu Yasha, or I won't be pleased!"  
  
Inu Yasha returned to where his older half sister sat on the hill, smiling as he presented his flowers to her. "Are these pretty enough?" She grinned at him, and exclaimed, "You always manage to get the best ones!" She placed a crown of flowers she had made on his head, tweaking his ear as she did, and giggled at the look he gave her, but he didn't take them off. Inu Yasha loved to please his sister.  
  
"I can't believe Father would let even a half-youkai like you play with human children in this manner." The cold voice sent a tingle down his spine, and the angry look on his sister's face as she looked up at the person who was behind him made his own anger rise. Who was this, that was making his big sister so upset? He turned around and got his first view of his older half-brother.  
  
He was very tall, with long silvery hair. A crescent was on his forehead, and there were stripes on his cheeks. Inu Yasha glared at him, but he was afraid of this strange, cold man.  
  
"How can you demean yourself to wear flowers like this?" the man sneered. His sister, only 10 years old, ran between him and the man. "I put them there, what's it to you?!"  
  
"And what right do you have to put flowers in his hair?" He said this in a deceptively calm voice. Inu Yasha could hear the threat, but he couldn't move, or speak. His big sister went on, with no show of the fear that had frozen Inu Yasha in place.  
  
"As his older sister, I have the right to play with him as I wish!"  
  
Inu Yasha saw his eyes narrow dangerously, "No brother of mine will have a human as a sibling. I won't allow it." Before Inu Yasha could register that this man had just claimed to be his brother, his arm whipped out so fast he could barely see it, and struck his sister.  
  
"NO!!!" But his shout was ignored, as his brother turned and walked off towards the cottage that was his family's home. Inu Yasha ran toward his sister, smelling the blood. She wasn't getting up. She was just laying there, blood streaming from her wounds. What was wrong with her?  
  
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Inu Yasha picked up another piece of wood, adding it to the growing stack he had in his arms. His father had saved her that time, forcing Sesshoumaru to give something to make an antidote. She had had scars across her cheek, neck, and shoulder for the rest of her life from his claws. Even though she had made a full recovery, Inu Yasha had never forgiven Sesshoumaru for that. He wondered if she had retained the immunity to his poison as she grew older.  
  
Inu Yasha shook his head. It didn't matter. Why was he thinking of a girl who was long dead? He needed to think of some way to save Kagome. The only person who had ever concocted an antidote was his father, and he was dead. Great. The only solutions to his problems were dead! He kicked at a branch on the ground in his frustration. He wished Kagome were awake. She was so much better at thinking....  
  
His thoughts cut off as he caught a familiar scent. It couldn't be her! She was dead! She had to be! Even as he denied it, he dropped his bundle of wood he had collected, and ran toward the scent he hadn't encountered in over 50 years.  
  
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She was outside in her garden, pulling weeds in the failing light of the day. Her stew inside would be ready by the time she was done working in the garden and had washed up. As she pulled a particularly stubborn weed out of the ground, she felt his presence just outside of the clearing, right behind her. He had been there for several minutes already. Well, if he wasn't going to say anything, she would just have to knock some sense into him. She hefted the weed in her hand, its roots still clinging to a large dirt clod, turned and threw it directly at Inu Yasha. "You know it's me, why don't you come out into the open!"  
  
Unprepared for her move, he didn't dodge or catch it in time, and the clod broke open on his forehead, showering him with dirt, the weed getting tangled in his hair. "Hey, watch it!" He sneezed, and shook his head, getting most of the dirt off his face, and out of his hair. The weed in his hair made her smile at a memory; Inu Yasha crowned with flowers. She stood there waiting patiently as he finished, pulling the weed out of his hair. "How would I know it is you, when not only are you alive, but you look so damn young?" He said this as he stepped into the clearing.  
  
She smiled, knowing those questions would have to be answered eventually. But she had a complaint with him that she wanted settled first. "Fair questions. But I have one for you." She strode up to him quickly, "Why did you have a hole in your hear for 50 years?" She emphasized every syllable with a jab at the exact spot where the hole had been. He was very taken aback; she could see it on his face. In his shock, he answered, "It wasn't my choice. Kikyou..." At saying that name, his face changed, to a sad, almost regretful, look. She was surprised; she didn't think he would ever hold feelings like that for anyone.  
  
When he spoke again, it was in a very determined tone. "I need your help. A friend of mine has been poisoned. I don't think she will live through the night, sleeping outside."  
  
A catch in his voice and a glance at her cheek, and she knew. "Sesshoumaru?" At his curt nod, she said, "Alright then. Bring her here quickly. I don't know if I will be able to save her, but I will do my best." As she turned to go inside, he was already gone, and she wondered if his 'friend' was this Kikyou he seemed to have such affection for.  
  
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"Hurry up; I think she might be getting better!" Miroku's call after Inu Yasha went unanswered and he turned back to Kagome. He studied her still unconscious face, her shallow breathing, and knew what he had told Inu Yasha was a lie. Kagome wasn't getting better; she probably wasn't even maintaining her status. No, with every breath she took, and every beat of her heart that carried the poison through her body, she was getting worse. As he changed the cloth on her forehead, he noticed the angry red streaks going up her neck. Yes, she was certainly getting worse, and there was nothing he could do about it.  
  
He looked at his right hand. He faced death everyday, knowing he would someday be killed by this curse. This was different. If he killed Naraku, the kazaana would dissipate, and he would be left with a normal, healthy, long life. Hunting down Naraku contained his fear. As long as he had that goal, he could go on. But his fear for Kagome had no container; there was nothing he could do for her. He was helpless. Useless.  
  
A bowl came into view in front of his nose unexpectedly. He jumped up in surprise, to see Sango there, holding out a bowl of soup. Shippou already had one, and was slowly eating it, as if out of habit. She didn't look at him as she spoke. "You need to eat, houshi-sama. Even if Kagome...dies, we still need to keep our strength up." She was forcing herself to face what seemed the inevitable. He took the bowl and started eating, knowing she was right. She sat down on the other side of the fire, with her own bowl, and started eating as well.  
  
After they finished their dinner, Miroku looked at the pot. There was still a large portion of it left. Inu Yasha's helping. Where was he? How could he have run off at a time like this? Just as he was working up his ire at the half-youkai for truly abandoning Kagome, he entered the clearing at a run. Sango stood up at his abrupt appearance, but Miroku reacted first. "Where have you been? And why don't you have any wood? We have to keep her warm!"  
  
Inu Yasha was already at Kagome's side, checking on her. "I know that! I have found something better than this campsite though. It might help her through the night. Let's go." And with that answer, he picked her up and returned from where he came. "Hurry up and break camp, I'll go on ahead. Shippou or Kirara will be able to follow me."  
  
Miroku sat there stunned. Inu Yasha had actually been doing something more useful than brooding?! Sango was already busily breaking down camp, and tossed a cup at him, hitting him in the head. "You heard him! Let's get going! He said he found something that could help Kagome!"  
  
As Miroku helped break the camp he had set up just an hour before, he wondered what it was that Inu Yasha had found. He wasn't as certain as Sango was that it would help Kagome that much, though. All he had said was that it would help her through the night. Inu Yasha still wasn't putting his hopes on her surviving.  
  
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Next chapter: Who is this woman (as if you couldn't guess) and will Kagome survive? Please review, if only to tell me you read it. 


	2. Reunion

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to post this chapter, School got in the way. I promise from now on, chapter updates will always come on Thursday. Also, I am offering a bribe. If you review my story, even if you didn't actually read it (though why you would review without reading is beyond me), I will go and review your stories. Also, if you have any suggestions about the my story and what could happen, let me know and I will see if I can work it into the outline.  
  
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Summary: Kagome gets hurt and Inu Yasha takes her to someone he knew fifty years ago for help. In the process, we learn more about Inu Yasha's past and what it was like growing up being niether human nor youkai.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha  
  
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Chapter 2: Reunion  
  
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Inu Yasha raced through the night, Kagome held tightly in his arms. He could feel how cold she was, even through the blankets that were wrapped around her. She wouldn't last another hour outside like this. When he got her to his sister's cottage, the best that he could hope for was for her to wake up, to be able to speak to him again. He didn't harbor any hope that his sister could save Kagome. After all, she hadn't been able to save their mother, when his father had been away...  
  
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"What do you mean you can't save her!?" Inu Yasha's anger at his sister's helplessness was irrational. Sesshoumaru's poison was quick, and deadly. His sister had just come outside to tell him. "You have never had a problem saving anyone before!" It didn't matter to him that everyone else she had saved had only had minor injuries. His mother had gaping wounds injected with poison strong enough to kill the heartiest of youkai.  
  
Her tears had stopped his yelling. "I don't know why I can't save her! His poison is too strong. And I was too young to remember what father did to save me that last time... even if a human could do it, I can't remember!" His fearless, wonderful sister had tears of grief and frustration silently rolling down her cheeks. She was pale, too, her scar standing out lividly right above her jaw line. She ignored her tears, refusing to admit she was crying, and just sat there. "All we can do for her now is to make her last night as comfortable as possible."  
  
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When their father had returned, two weeks later, he was too late to even attend their mother's funeral.   
  
Inu Yasha hugged Kagome even tighter to him. He was going to get Sesshoumaru for this! That scum had been wandering the earth for too long! He would see Kagome's body back to her time, and to her funeral, and then he would come back for Sesshoumaru's blood, even if it took his own life.  
  
His arrival at Kiara's cottage cut short any more musings he might have about revenge. She was waiting for him when he got to the door, and led him back to a room with a pallet in it. He gently laid Kagome down, tenderly pulling her hair out of her eyes as he stood up. He looked at Kiara for a moment, and left the room to wait outside.  
  
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Kiara carefully pulled the blankets away, and discovered the red streaks traveling up the girl's neck. Pulling the blankets back further, she saw the expertly bandaged wound, and caught the scent of an herb she knew well. She smiled. Where had Inu Yasha gotten the knowledge to use that herb? As she finished preparing the antidote her father had taught her after the incident with her mother, she hoped the herb had slowed the poison enough for it to work. Hers didn't act as quickly as the one her father had made, but if it was administered soon enough after the attack, it would save the person.   
  
She had learned the hard way that it wasn't as fast...but she wouldn't think about that time right now. Right now, she had to save this girl. She couldn't let her brother down again. She couldn't bear the look on his face if she did. Now it was time for the last part. With a glance to the door, hoping Inu Yasha wouldn't smell her blood; she slit her wrist, and watched as a large portion of blood fell into the cup she had made. When enough had fallen in, she quickly bandaged her wrist. Stirring the antidote, she watched the blood spread, and stain the contents red. She took it over to the still unconscious girl.   
  
Holding the girl up with one arm, Kiara placed the cup against her lips, and she drank it reflexively. After she finished the whole cup, she sank back down to the pallet. Kiara watched her for a moment. The red streaks were ever so slightly starting to retreat. She smiled as she left the room. It had worked.  
  
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Inu Yasha glared at her from across the room, waiting for her to say what he knew she must. No one could survive that poison, and she couldn't help Kagome.  
  
"She should wake up sometime tomorrow, and be fully recovered within a few days."  
  
"I knew it! I shouldn't have gotten my hopes...." A confused look crossed his face, "Wait....What did you say?"  
  
"She should wake up tomorrow, and be fully recovered within a few days. Really Inu Yasha, I distinctly remember that between the two of us, your hearing was better than mine." She tweaked his ear as she said this, her eyes twinkling merrily. She wouldn't joke like this if Kagome were dying. She wouldn't dare. But how?  
  
Inu Yasha entered the small room, and knelt beside Kagome. Her color was returning to a more normal hue, and her breathing was much easier. He gingerly reached out a hand, but stopped less than an inch away from her face, afraid that he was hallucinating, and that if he touched her, she would go back to how she was before.   
  
Then he noticed the smell of blood. Puzzled he looked around, and saw the cup beside the pallet. Picking it up, he turned to Kiara, with a quizzical look on his face. Her smile was gone. "She needed the antidote. I gave it to her the only way I know how." She moved her arm behind her back, but not before he saw the hasty bandage there.  
  
"That is how it is made, with someone's blood?" His question was incredulous. If it was that simple, why hadn't she been able to save their mother?  
  
He could tell that she didn't want to answer, but he knew she would. She owed him that much. "Not just anyone's blood. It is Sesshoumaru's blood, with his natural resistance to his own poison. That is what father used for me. Father also used a lot, probably more than he needed to, because I was so small he was afraid it would kill me if he didn't. Because of that, I have Sesshoumaru's blood as part of me. My antidote doesn't work as quickly, or as well. But somehow, your friend over there was able to respond to it, even this long after being poisoned. Even so, an hour or two more, and it wouldn't have worked." He was staring at her. He still couldn't believe it. Kagome was going to live. But why had the poison run more slowly in her veins? "Her wound was bandaged with an herb that slows poisons from spreading. I don't know where you learned that, Inu Yasha, but it worked well." An herb? Sango had bandaged her wound. Had she really made a difference? "Let's go into the other room and talk while she rests."  
  
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Inu Yasha seemed to be taking the news well. He wasn't screaming at her, or demanding to be off to take revenge. He had truly prepared himself for this girl to die. She supposed he had only brought her here hoping to wake her, and be able to speak with her one last time. As he sat down, she dished out a bowl of stew for him. His ears twitched as he noticed the savory smell of her stew. It had been a long time since he had eaten her cooking. She set the bowl down in front of him, and he watched her while he ate, not taking his eyes off of her. The intense scrutiny made her feel uncomfortable. She knew she didn't look a day older than day he had left.  
  
She was the one who broke the silence, and he jumped at her voice. "So who is she? That girl in there? Is that...Kikyou?" She guessed the name that he had mentioned earlier with such tenderness.  
  
Inu Yasha smiled, as if remembering something, "No, she isn't Kikyou. She is Kagome. Ka-go-me." The last was said quietly, as he looked down at his stew, and he just kept smiling. She had to smile at his reaction. So, her brother had become quite the playboy--Two loves in a lifetime.   
  
She wanted to ask more, but at that moment, she felt two people, and two demons, approaching her clearing. Not wanting to disturb Inu Yasha, she got up and walked outside. Picking up her bow and quiver of arrows that were outside her door, she went to the center of the clearing. It had been a while since the villagers had bothered her. What could they want? She cocked an arrow, and aimed at the nearest of the intruders. There was a girl with a large weapon over her shoulder, a man dressed as a monk with a staff, and two small youkai.  
  
"Its right up here, I know it..." This was from the kitsune youkai.  
  
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she demanded.  
  
The girl stopped as she answered, "We were following two of our companions. One is deathly ill, and we need to reach them soon."  
  
Inu Yasha has friends too? He certainly had a lot to tell her. Lowering her bow and arrow, Kiara invited them in, "If Inu Yasha is your companion, you are welcome in my home, though he may find himself sleeping outside tonight for not telling me there were more in his group who were coming."  
  
The monk approached her, and took her hand. "We are most appreciative of your help, my dear lady. My name is Miroku. Such a lady as you must be a very strong and independent woman. I wonder if you would consider bearing my child?" Taken aback by the amorous monk's attitude, she was saved from an answer at that moment by Inu Yasha, who had come outside to see what all the noise was about. He grabbed Miroku and threw him across the clearing where he landed in a bush, yelling, "She's taken, and even if she weren't she wouldn't want someone like YOU!!!"  
  
Kiara was a little surprised at the sudden show of violence in her brother, but looking at the girl's slightly disgusted, yet tolerant look, she became puzzled. The girl answered her unspoken question. "Miroku asks every girl he meets that. It isn't anything personal, but Inu Yasha doesn't like it when he does. He's never thrown Miroku like that, though." She paused for a moment, musing, and then introduced herself, "My name is Sango, this is Shippou, and this is Kirara. I suppose you already know Miroku." Sango indicated each of her companions as she introduced them.  
  
Kiara looked at her brother, who was glaring at the monk. Miroku was getting up, dusting himself off, saying "What is the harm in asking?" as he passed her to go inside.  
  
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Inu Yasha couldn't believe Miroku would go after his sister, a married woman! Young girls he could understand, but Kiara was over 70! Granted, she didn't look it, and her husband wasn't around right now, but still, he should know better. It was as Kiara passed him, following the others inside; that he realized what was wrong with the house, and with her. She didn't smell of a man. There wasn't a man's scent anywhere around. He grabbed her wrist, and turned her to face him. "Where is he? Where is your husband?" He demanded this information from her, ignoring the gasp of pain she made from his hand on her arm where she had cut it earlier.  
  
She looked him straight in the eye and showed no emotion as she answered, "He is dead. He died two days after you left."  
  
Shocked, he let her pull free of his grip. The man he had left to protect his sister after his father's death had let him down. He wanted more than ever to know what had happened in the fifty years he had been gone. Miroku's voice cut through the silence, "I am sure you two have a lot to discuss, as it seems you know each other. But where is Kagome-sama? May we see her, before she dies?"  
  
Kiara immediately turned to him, smiling. Inu Yasha knew she loved giving good news, so he stepped back, and let his questions remain unasked, while she showed the rest of their party in to see Kagome. There would be time enough for talk later.  
  
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Kiara watched as the four sat around Kagome, discussing her apparent health, and thanking Kiara for her help. She answered them all politely, but her mind was far from the room in which she sat. It was in the past, before Inu Yasha had left...  
  
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"I have convinced him to have the wedding on the night of the new moon, Inu Yasha. This way you can be there too." She had worked so hard to convince her fiancé to wait that long. She really wanted her brother to be at the wedding, he was her last surviving relative. "Please say you will come!"  
  
Her brother smiled, "Why would I miss your wedding day? The day my sister will be all grown up." He seemed proud of her, and she smiled back at him at his promise.  
  
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Of course, the night of the wedding, he hadn't shown up. He had disappeared the night before. He knew the villagers would be there, and that they would know who he was, even as a human. These were the same villagers who had taunted him as a child. He knew she was going into the human world, where she belonged, and he had accepted that, and left, to find his own place.  
  
Shaking herself out of her reminiscing, she stood up. "I think we should all go into the other room now, and let her sleep." The others followed her out of the room, and settled themselves in the main room. Inu Yasha waited patiently while they arranged their sleeping positions, but he didn't take his eyes off of Kiara for one moment. When they were all settled, he finally asked his question, "So what happened to him? He seemed pretty healthy before he died."  
  
She sighed. She had meant to ask the questions first, but now she had to answer. "Sesshoumaru showed up the day after the wedding, demanding to see Father. He had just heard the news of his death, and couldn't believe he was truly dead. When I told him that what he had heard was true, he became angry, and destroyed everything around, including the house, and my husband." It didn't hurt, to say it. What she had lost that day wasn't so much a part of her life, as a future, a future that had been arranged for her.  
  
Miroku broke in at that point, "So you aren't taken then? Would you consider bearing my child?" Inu Yasha threw a bowl at him, hitting him in the back of the head. "I told you, she wouldn't want someone like you!"  
  
"She is a beautiful, young lady. Why wouldn't she want a dashing young priest?" Miroku's words surprised her. It had been a long time since anyone had called her beautiful. Then again, it had been a long time since any human had visited her. Before Inu Yasha could find something else to throw at the monk, she broke in.  
  
"Inu Yasha. You haven't answered my question. Why did you have a hole in your chest for fifty years?"  
  
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Miroku looked back at the girl. Strange, that she should put it that way. How did she know Inu Yasha had had a hole in his chest, and not know the cause? Who was this strange, young lady? He studied her as Inu Yasha related the tale of his and Kikyou's betrayal.  
  
She was dressed rather oddly. She wore long blue pants, gathered at the ankle, though not as baggy as Inu Yasha's, and a white shirt tucked into the top. He supposed that living here alone, as she must, it was for convenience more than looks. Even though the outfit was rather baggy, it didn't hide her lithe figure. She was slightly shorter than Inu Yasha, and slender. He then noticed a pendent hanging around her neck. It seemed to have some sort of aura about it. He couldn't tell what it was, but it appeared to be a silvery white disk, about as large as his thumbnail.   
  
As she sat there listening, she unbound her hair from the tie that had held it back, and began brushing the tangles of the day out of it. The long black mass reached her lap, and the ends trailed on to the floor.   
  
He then turned his attention to her face. It was tanned from long hours in the sun. A scar stood out pale against the darker skin, though. It was a thin line, paralleling her jaw on the left side of her face, ending as it reached her chin. As she smiled slightly, he could see that the right side of her mouth curved more than the left, giving her a mischievous look. The muscles must not have healed fully from the injury, he thought to himself. He noticed another line along the side of her neck. It looked like something had clawed her. Well, it was none of his business; he wouldn't pry into her past.   
  
Her eyes reminded him of someone he knew, but he couldn't quite place who. In fact, her face taken as a whole tugged at his mind, that he knew this face. He was sure he had never seen her before, but the more he studied her, the more convinced he was that she was somehow familiar.  
  
At that moment Sango elbowed him sharply in the side, giving him a hard look. He had been staring at this mysterious woman for a long time. He sighed, but obediently turned his attention back to Inu Yasha's story. How could she expect him to be interested in a story he was very familiar with, when there was a new, intriguing, beautiful woman sitting right in front of him?  
  
And she certainly was beautiful, that much was certain. He snuck a glance back at her when Sango wasn't looking. She had started braiding her hair, completely oblivious to his scrutiny. Why was Inu Yasha acting so protective of her? And how could he have known this young beauty if he had been stuck to a tree for 50 years?  
  
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As Inu Yasha finished his tale, she was nodding, but had a sad look on her face. "I am so sorry for you, Inu Yasha. You had finally found happiness, and that was taken away from you. You, of all people, deserve to be happy."  
  
"Feh. It doesn't matter." He put on a stony face, but felt comforted at her words. She was the one person he had ever known who had always supported him without question. Now it was his turn to ask her the questions that had been left unanswered earlier in the clearing. But as he opened his mouth to speak, Shippou interrupted.  
  
"Inu Yasha, who is this woman and why do you trust her so much?" Sango and Miroku looked like they had wanted to ask the same thing, but were too polite to pry. Leave it to the little kid to say what was on everyone's mind. He glared at the kitsune for breaking in, but he supposed they had a right to know.   
  
"This is my older sister, Kiara." He ignored their shocked, surprised and confused looks at his short answer as he turned back to Kiara, and asked the questions that had been left unanswered earlier. She was looking away from him, using the tail of her braid to play with Kirara. "So, what are you still doing alive, and why are you so young?" Looking up at him, she gave that mischievous half smile of hers.  
  
"Are you upset that I am still alive, and young?" Her tone was light as he glared at her.  
  
"Of course not!" His answer was quick and defensive, blurted out before he realized what she was doing. "Quit that!" She was baiting him. It was her favorite game, to not answer a question, but to come back with a question of her own. She KNEW it got him every time.  
  
"Quit what?" Her innocent tone was a little too innocent as she turned to the others in the room, including them in her game. "Do you see me doing anything that should get him upset like that?"  
  
Miroku ignored Inu Yasha as he answered, "I don't see anything, do you Sango?"  
  
"Not at all. It must be close to his time of the month for him to be getting all out of sorts over nothing like this."  
  
Inu Yasha glared at Sango, and Miroku took the opportunity to move over next to Kiara. He picked up her hand in a comforting manner, "I mean, I certainly don't mind that you are alive and young." Inu Yasha acted before the monk's wandering hands went too far, and threw him across the room, away from his sister.  
  
"That's it! Would you stop that! She is older than I am! Do the math!"  
  
Inu Yasha watched as a horrified look crossed the monk's face that he had been attempting to court someone that old. Sango was having a hard time containing her giggles as he came to the realization. She had probably already figured out that his sister was much older than she appeared.  
  
Sitting straighter, and regaining his composure, he said, "Well, if that is the case, then I think Inu Yasha has a fair question in asking how you look so young." Inu Yasha could tell the monk was trying to hide his embarrassment.  
  
"It is indeed a fair question, and one I will answer eventually. But it is late, and I need to check on the girl, Kagome, before we go to bed," and she swept into the other room, leaving Inu Yasha without answers, again.  
  
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Later that night, Inu Yasha sighed as he looked at the little cottage in the clearing from his vantage point in a tree. It was a small cottage, but very well made, and cozy. There was a small but extensive garden in the front, where many different vegetables were growing. Several fruit trees clustered around the back of the house, providing shade as well as sustenance. Judging from the size of them, they had been there for many, many years. Right now, their leaves had the bright fiery colors of the autumn season. There was already a blanket of leaves littering the ground under them. Off to the side of the cottage was a well, so she didn't have to go down to the river to get water. He wondered who had made it for her. This cottage was in a completely different area than the village they had grown up near. It was a good home, but it also looked like she had been alone for a long time.   
  
He thought back to the one answer she had given him. Something had seemed odd about the way she told him about her husband's death. Rather...emotionless? That didn't seem right for his sister, but he supposed after fifty years she would not really feel much about it.  
  
Inu Yasha turned his mind back to thoughts of her husband. He had died two days after he left. She had been married for one day. Had she really been alone all this time? How could that idiot go and get himself killed, leaving his sister like that? Well, he couldn't exactly blame the human for it. It was Sesshoumaru who had attacked him. He knew he should not have let her marry him, but her reasons had been very good. He looked up at the waning crescent moon as he thought about their argument over her betrothed.  
  
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Inu Yasha didn't like the man his father had chosen for Kiara to marry. He was untrustworthy, lied, and had been among the group that always tormented him. He wouldn't let his sister know that though.  
  
"Why do you have to marry HIM? He is human, he is barely strong enough to provide for you, let alone protect you!" Inu Yasha's question was really rhetorical. He knew why, at least in part. But she answered anyways.  
  
"Father arranged this marriage for me before he died. If I don't marry him, it will be disrespectful to him."  
  
"Screw him. He is dead. Why should we do anything he says? I can't believe he picked a weak human for your husband!"  
  
"Well, what would you have him choose? A youkai?" Her volume had risen to match his. When they got into shouting matches, they could go for hours. They were both stubborn, and hated to lose.  
  
"Yes! At least then you would be safe!"  
  
He didn't understand the annoyed look on her face. Didn't she understand that he wouldn't be around much longer? "Do you want to know why father didn't choose a youkai, other than the fact that there probably aren't any around who would accept a human for a bride?" Her quieter tone cut off his response, and he just glared at her. He knew if he opened his mouth she would just look at him like he was an idiot and tell him anyways. His sister always said what she wanted to say and not one word more. She took his silence as a 'yes' and went on. "Father didn't choose a youkai for my husband because he didn't want me to go through what he and mother did."   
  
Inu Yasha cut her off, "She and Father loved each other, why wouldn't he want that?!"  
  
She rolled her eyes, like he had missed something very obvious. "Didn't you notice how much older Mother looked than Father, before she died?" He blinked at that. He hadn't noticed, but thinking back, he did remember his mother's not so smooth face, and hair that had started to streak with gray. "Humans age so much more quickly than demons. It would be a cruelty to marry me to a youkai, because as I aged, he would remain virtually the same." As he considered this, he remembered the sad way his mother had looked at his father, and how she had tried to cover the signs of her aging from him. Then his sister went on. "It would also be cruel to the youkai, if he grew to love me, to know that his time with me was so short." He gave a start at that, and looked at her again. Had he really been that blind?  
  
"Mother and Father loved each other, yes. But it was a love full of sorrow, and he didn't wish that on me. That is why he arranged this marriage before he went off to die." Her last words hit home.  
  
"What do you mean, 'went off to die'? Father went to fight some demon and came back too injured to recover."  
  
"He knew he couldn't defeat that demon. That is why he took care of his affairs before he left, making sure I was betrothed. He followed Mother into the other world."  
  
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Her logic, as always, had deflated his anger. He rarely won an argument with his sister, and when he did it was more often because of brute force than logic. He had conceded her point, and not made any more trouble about her marriage. Her life had been stressful enough at that point without him making it more difficult. Though he hadn't attended the wedding in the open, he had watched from the shadows. He hoped his sister knew that he had been there, that he had kept his promise.  
  
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Next Chapter: Scars  
  
Kagome wakes up, and she, Sango, and Kiara have some girl time together. Their talk turns, naturally, to Inu Yasha. What can Kiara tell them that Inu Yasha hasn't? Lots.  
  
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Author's note: I have tried to edit this as much as possible, so that it flows as well as it possibly can. Tell me what you think, and if there is anything that is unclear, please ask. 


	3. Scars

Author's note: I messed up in the posting of it last week, but have figured out the problem. As I said before, this fic will be posted every Thursday night. Also, for those reviewers with stories out there, I will review your stories if you let me know you read this.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha.  
  
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My Protector  
  
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Brief review of chapters 1 and 2:  
  
Kagome is poisoned by Sesshoumaru in battle and Inu Yasha takes her to his sister, whom he has not seen for 50 years, for help.  
  
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Chapter 3: Scars  
  
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Kagome could hear birds chirping. Her head hurt, and her throat was very dry. She opened her eyes to find herself in a dark room, with weak gray light coming in through the window. Where was she? Gingerly, she looked around the room. Her yellow backpack had been placed in a corner, and outside the window were several trees. This was definitely someplace she had never seen before. Where was Inu Yasha? Then she remembered the fight. Was he dead?  
  
In her panic, she tried to sit up, but couldn't. She could barely lift her head up, and it throbbed even more. That's right, I was poisoned. What happened after that? As she tried to work through the fog that still clung to her mind, she heard a footstep on the other side of the room, and a voice that was unfamiliar to her.  
  
"You are awake much sooner than I had expected." The woman's voice was quiet, as if she didn't want to wake others in the house. Kagome turned her head carefully to look at her. She was tall, and had a long braid of black hair that fell over her shoulder. Kagome had the feeling that she looked familiar, but couldn't quite place her. Kagome's interest was drawn towards a small pendant she was wearing. It had an odd aura, one she couldn't figure out.  
  
"You must be thirsty." Her voice brought her mind back to her parched throat, and she nodded, not trusting her voice. The woman helped her sit up, and then held the cup to her mouth as she drank. She drank her fill, and then lay back down, exhausted once more. She just wanted to go back to sleep, but her curiosity would not let her rest.  
  
"Who are you?" Her voice sounded thin and forced, she wasn't sure if the woman could hear it, but she answered.  
  
"I am a friend. Inu Yasha and the others are still asleep. Rest some more, and the next time you wake up, I will answer more of your questions." The answer comforted her. Inu Yasha and the others were still alive, and they were safe. With that thought, she drifted into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.  
  
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Sango woke up when Kiara got up, went to the well outside, and returned with a cup of water, going into the room where Kagome was recovering. Listening, she heard low voices, and then Kiara came back into the room. Sango sat up.  
  
In the dim, early morning light, she thought she saw the other woman look at her and smile, but she couldn't be sure. Before Sango could ask about Kagome, Kiara held a hand to her lips, and gestured her to step outside.  
  
As she slid out of her blankets, she noticed the monk had shifted in the night to come to rest next to her. Sango yawned softly and looked at his sleeping face, wrinkling her nose at him. It was hard to believe that this peacefully sleeping man had such a lecherous attitude. Sango quickly stood up and stepped around the monk, following Kiara out the door.  
  
She was already at the well, lowering the bucket down to get the water needed for the rest of them to start the day. "How is Kagome?" Sango kept her voice low as she spoke, knowing Inu Yasha was sleeping out here somewhere. Kiara had kept her promise to make him sleep outside, though, in all honesty, that is where he preferred to be.  
  
"She is doing well. To be honest, I had not expected her to awaken this soon. The poison had been slowed by the herb her wound was treated with, but it shouldn't have had such an extensive effect on her recovery."  
  
Sango was startled, then pleased by what Inu Yasha's sister had said. "So it helped then?"  
  
"You bandaged her wound?" At Sango's nod, she continued, "Then you saved her life." Sango started to protest. She hadn't really done anything that remarkable, but Kiara cut her off. "If it hadn't been for that herb slowing the poison in her veins, she would have died not more than an hour after Inu Yasha brought her here. My antidote would have had no effect." The bucket splashed into the water far below in the silence after that statement.  
  
Surprised that her desperate attempt to help had actually worked, she stammered out an explanation. "I-I didn't know what else to do. I hoped it would slow it down enough that her natural resistance could save her."  
  
"Natural resistance?"  
  
Sango realized that while Inu Yasha had told his sister the entire story of Kikyou, including that she had been reanimated; he had neglected to tell her anything about Kagome other than she had freed him from the tree. Leave it to Inu Yasha to leave out any details about Kagome, whom his sister had just saved, but go on in excruciating detail about Kikyou.  
  
"Yes. Kagome is Kikyou's reincarnation. She has powers like Kikyou's as well. She is very resistant to poisons and can purify them too. I had hoped that her own body would reject Sesshoumaru's poison if it was given a chance to recover from the shock."  
  
"I see. That explains it then, why she is up so soon." She finished hauling the bucket up and grabbed it one-handed to carry back inside. Sango was surprised at her strength, but she supposed she shouldn't be. She had probably needed to be very strong to live out here for 50 years alone.  
  
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Inu Yasha sat in Kagome's room later that morning, waiting for her to wake up. Kiara had told him that she had gotten up earlier that morning, and that they should keep watch over her for when she next woke. Sango had watched her first, and then Shippou, wanting to do something useful. Now it was his turn. She really looked like she was just sleeping now, no hint of how close the poison had come to taking her life just the day before.  
  
Her eyelashes fluttered, and he moved closer to her with the cup of cool water he had ready.  
  
She heard his movements, and turned her eyes to him. "Inu Yasha?" She sat up as she said this, although she seemed a little sluggish.  
  
"Here. Kiara said you would probably be thirsty." She reached for the cup, and he steadied it in her shaking hands as she drank.  
  
"Thank you. Inu Yasha, where are we?"  
  
"We are at my sister's cottage. She made the antidote that saved you from Sesshoumaru's poison." He could see the hurt in her eyes before she bent her head so her hair would cover her face. She was probably upset that he hadn't told her that he had a sister, much less that she was alive. Well, he wouldn't let that get to him. He hadn't told her a lot of things.  
  
"Inu Yasha? Would it be possible for me to take a bath?" She had changed the subject. He was glad she had; he didn't want to talk about his sister when he still wasn't sure of all the answers himself. Like why was she so damn young?!  
  
"Yeah. My sister said there is a hot spring very near here that she uses for bathing. She thought you might want to take a bath, so she has gotten everything ready. She and Sango were just waiting for you to wake up so they could take you up there. Can you get up?"  
  
"I think so." She said this as she slowly rose, using the wall for balance. As she stepped away from the wall, she lost her balance. He caught her by her arms, and steadied her, then helped her into the other room where the other women were waiting.  
  
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Kagome hated the way she felt. Her legs were so shaky they barely supported her to the hot spring. She had to lean on Sango the entire way. But she refused to let either of the guys carry her. She had to get over this, and the fastest way of doing that was to grit her teeth and just do it.  
  
When they reached the spring, Sango helped her sit down on a rock.  
  
"Can you undress yourself?" Kagome nodded to her friend, and methodically began undoing the ties on the shirt she had woken up in. She supposed her blouse had been removed to dress her wounds. She hoped Miroku hadn't had a hand in that. She didn't want that pervert looking at her when she couldn't help it.  
  
As she pulled the shirt off, Kiara came over to remove the bandage, and inspect her wounds. As she pulled the bandaging away, the dried blood pulled at her tender skin, and she winced at the sharp pain. Looking down at them, they weren't as bad as she thought they might have been. Just scratches.  
  
"I think you can leave the bandages off now. They appear to be healing quite normally." Kagome smiled at the woman, Inu Yasha's sister, and thanked her, then looked down at her hands in her lap. She didn't really know what to say to this woman who had saved her. Thanks to Inu Yasha's secretive nature about his past, she didn't know anything about her.  
  
She felt a touch on her arm, and looked up at the woman who was now standing next to her, stripped and ready to bathe, wearing only the strange pendant. "You ready to go in?" Kagome nodded as she noticed how scarred the older woman was. She had already noticed the scar along her jaw, and without her shirt, Kagome saw that there was another, less severe scar on the left side of her neck, and three more on that shoulder. There were also another, smaller set of scars on her upper right arm, and on her thigh, right above her knee. These were in addition to many smaller nicks and scratches that criss-crossed her skin.  
  
Kiara smiled a slightly crooked smile as she saw where Kagome was looking. "The hazards of growing up with a hanyou brother." Kagome smiled back as she was assisted into the water, wondering if Inu Yasha had really given her all these scars.  
  
Settling down into the water, Kagome let out a sigh. The heat felt so good against her bruised body. After they had finished washing, they sat there just soaking in the heat. Kagome finally got up the courage to ask what had been on her mind.  
  
"What was Inu--What was it like, growing up with Inu Yasha?"  
  
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Kiara looked over at the strange girl. She heard the change of phrase. What she really wanted to know was what Inu Yasha had been like as a child.  
  
"Well, I haven't thought about it in a long time. Let's see...Inu Yasha is four years younger than I am, and I always felt like he was mine when I was a little girl. Mine to play with, mine to watch, and mine to boss around. I remember when I first saw him, the first thing I did was tickle his ears." Kagome smiled, and blushed a bit. Apparently she had done the same thing. Well, who could help it? Those ears were just so cute, they begged to be touched! Smiling as she went on, she knew the story she would tell these two.  
  
"I loved Inu Yasha's ears, and touched them every chance I could get, mostly because I wanted some myself. I didn't understand why Inu Yasha and Father had them, but mother and I didn't. Eventually, I knew that it was because Inu Yasha and Father weren't truly human, in the sense that Mother and I were, but it wasn't until I was 13 that I knew the full impact of what it meant to be a youkai, or a hanyou."  
  
The other two were paying rapt attention as she related her tale. She supposed Inu Yasha hadn't told them much about his childhood, and would probably be very angry with her for relating this particularly painful memory. But it was her story too, she reminded herself, as she fingered the scars on her leg, and took the girls back to that bright summer day.  
  
"We lived well outside the village. Close enough to go there if we needed to, but not so close that the villagers would bother us much. Inu Yasha had never been there before because Mother never allowed him to come along when she took me."  
  
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She walked along the weed-choked path that led from her house down into the village. It was her first visit to the village alone. Father had given her the money to pay for the new kimono he had ordered for her mother as a gift. She fingered the bag at her waist, proud that he had entrusted this to her.  
  
She took another step, and heard a rustle behind her. She sighed. No matter how often she caught him at it, her brother refused to give up this stalking game, even when he wasn't supposed to come down this way. "Inu Yasha, I know you're there, why don't you at least walk with me so I have company?" Even though her little brother could try her patience, it was still better than walking alone.  
  
"I didn't think you would let me come, 'cuz I'm not supposed to go to the village." He came out and skipped around her.  
  
She sighed. She supposed that she should send him back, and not disobey their father's wishes. "I honestly don't see why you shouldn't be allowed to go to the village. The women there adore cute children, and you are cuter by far than any of the ones they fawn over." She tweaked his ear as she said this, and he smiled at her despite that.  
  
When they reached the village, she took her time getting to her destination. She knew Inu Yasha had never been here before, and she allowed their path to wander as he took in all the new sights, sounds, and smells. As she trailed after her excited brother, she heard snatches of conversation behind her. "...has ears!" She smiled, proud of her unique little hanyou, until she caught more of what they were saying. "What is that thing doing here?" "Is this some sort of joke?" As she turned around to see who it was that was making fun of her brother, she heard more comments, and realized that nearly everybody was pointing, and talking. They weren't even making an attempt to hide it, either.  
  
She decided it would be a very good idea to collect her brother and finish her business quickly, but when she turned back to look for him, he had disappeared. Damn that little brother of mine, she thought as her annoyance rose.  
  
She was desperate to find him, but none of the villagers would help. They just laughed at her. Then she heard a pained yelp. That could only be Inu Yasha. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, glad that it was faster than the villagers around her, who had also started running towards the sharp sound. Following another yelp, she ran just out of town, to the bank of the river that flowed past the village. The scene she saw there made her stop, uncertain of what to do.  
  
Some older boys she had seen on earlier trips into the village had caught her brother. They were dangling him by an ankle as they laughed at his futile attempts to free himself. They had a bag, and had apparently decided to drown him like he was some rat they were getting rid of.  
  
"Put him down!" She started to run towards the group, but her pause a moment before had allowed the rest of the villagers to catch up to her. They grabbed her arms, and held her back. She was now as helpless as Inu Yasha. "No!! Let GO!!"  
  
The villagers held tight though. "Girl, you're too soft hearted for your own good. Don't you understand that vermin like that have to be exterminated? We can't allow things like that to live near our town." She was dumbfounded at their response. Her sweet, innocent, cute little brother was vermin? But it was more than that. The way the man had said it, it was like a curse. He truly hated Inu Yasha, even though he had no cause.  
  
"You Bastard!" She said the first thing that came to her mind. "He is my little brother! He is just a little boy! Damn it! If you do this you will be murderers!" The man's face changed at this. Before, his tone had been that of a harsh schoolteacher instructing a stupid pupil in the proper way to do things. Now his face changed, and she was picked up roughly. "In that case, you can be killed along with it, bitch. We can't allow a family of youkai to just waltz in here like they own the place." This last was spit out. He thought she was a hanyou too? The crowd jeered as she was carried bodily down to the river's edge, kicking, screaming, and cursing.  
  
Her brother was being lifted to be put into the bag. "Inu Yasha! No!!" It came out as a scream, her fear for him overcoming her. He looked over to her when he heard his name and realized that she was in danger as well. In a blur, he had bent himself up, and bit the hand of the boy who was holding him. He fell to the ground in a heap as the boy yelled in pain and ran back to the crowd of villagers. Next, Inu Yasha was on the man who was holding her, clawing and biting at his hand, forcing him to let go. As soon as she dropped, falling bonelessly into a pile, rather shocked at the violence her sweet little brother had just displayed. She stood up after a minute, and assessed the situation. There seemed to be a stalemate.  
  
Inu Yasha, her 9 year old brother was standing between her and the man who had been holding her, blood dripping from his fangs and claws, ready to attack again. The man stood there, staring at Inu Yasha in terror, cradling his arm. That was when she realized that it wasn't out of hatred that the villagers were doing this, but fear. They feared her little brother. No, they feared the hanyou. Her sweet little hanyou with the adorable ears.  
  
The rest of the villagers had stopped their cheering at Inu Yasha's sudden move. They were now turning angry. They weren't going to let one little whelp get the better of them.  
  
Inu Yasha felt the change in their mood as well, she could tell it in the way he shifted his balance. He was going to use that flying-claws attack he had discovered not too long ago. Shit! She couldn't let him do that! She couldn't let anyone else get hurt! She started running as he raised his arm, hoping she could get there in time. She threw herself in between him and the villagers as the blades left his claws. His eyes widened in shock as he realized it was too late to stop his attack from hitting her, and then she felt them hit. They tore through her leg like blades of ice, and she fell in shock.  
  
She saw black spots on the edge of her vision, but she had more to do, she couldn't just faint here. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she stood up in front of Inu Yasha. "Stop it. You can't hurt these people, they are afraid." The villagers had once again stopped at her move, confused by her actions. They wouldn't stay there long.  
  
"They were trying to hurt you! I--"  
  
She cut him off as his anger started to rise again. This time anger at her for stopping him. They had to get out of there. "Inu Yasha, we have to go." She limped over to him, and put her arms around him. Feeling him about to push her away, and knowing she wouldn't be able to resist, she picked him up, and used her good leg to propel them into the river.  
  
******************************  
  
"We came back onshore about an hour later. Father came and found us that night when I didn't come home on time and he realized Inu Yasha was missing. He was furious. I had never seen him in such a rage. Of course, after that, the villagers didn't leave us alone at our cottage. They constantly came and picked on him. It became a game for older boys especially to see if they could provoke him to attack because they knew he wasn't allowed to hurt them. After that, he grew to be the cynical, human hating hanyou you know. I never expected him to hold trust for any humans again."  
  
Sango sat in the silence after the recounting of the tale. She hadn't imagined what life must have been like for Inu Yasha as a child. As a demon exterminator, she had encountered that particular fear of villagers on a regular basis. It was her job to get rid of that fear, and she was very good at it. But she had never seen hatred exhibited towards the youkai so strong that they would go so far as to kill a child. She gently scratched Kirara behind the ears. Didn't they know that not all youkai attacked villages? They had even had one living next to them peacefully for 9 years, and still they didn't understand the nature of what they called an enemy.  
  
She stood up, the warm water no longer comforting, and went to sit on a rock to dry in the mid-morning sun. Kagome shakily stood, and pulled herself up next to Sango. She really was getting stronger. They dried off and made their way back to the cottage. 


End file.
